Still Life

I was pumped to see this after greatly enjoying Up the Yangtze. I liked this but was surprised that of the two films, I preferred the documentary to the feature.

The film tells two separate stories - one of a miner returning to the area for the first time in 16 years to find his wife and daughter that he had left behind. But all of the addresses he's looking for are now underwater. The other story is about a nurse seeking to reconcile with her estranged husband.

This is a good movie. But I was more fascinated with the real footage (of the demolition of buildings as progress moves forward on the ambitious Three Gorges Dam and the beautiful cinematography) than I was by the storytelling. I'm fully willing to admit that I wasn't in the mood to watch such a slow, meditative film though. I wouldn't be surprised if I loved this film if I watched it a second time.

The sadness of change permeates throughout the film. I should have waited until I was in the right mood to watch it but I'm too neurotic to keep a Netflix DVD at home for too long. And in the process, I might not have enjoyed this film as much as I should have.

Directed by Jia Zhang Ke
2006, Year of U.S. Release: 2008
DVD